
Table of contents
- 1. How do farmers support flood prevention? skip to link
- 2. Who is responsible for flood risk management in the UK? skip to link
- 3. How are farmers incentivised to support flood prevention in England? skip to link
- 4. What support is available for farmers impacted by severe flooding? skip to link
- 5. What announcements on flood risk management has the new Labour government made? skip to link
- 6. Read more skip to link
Approximate read time: 10 minutes
On 10 October 2024, the House of Lords will consider the following question for short debate:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans to ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure farmers are supported and recompensed for their role in flood prevention.
1. How do farmers support flood prevention?
Farmers play a role in natural flood management (NFM), according to the Environment Agency.[1] NFM refers to methods used to protect, restore and emulate the natural processes of catchments, rivers, floodplains and coasts. Farmers are encouraged to follow advice such as planting winter covering crops, soil management and ploughing along slopes to help reduce flood risk.
In 2020, scientific academy the Royal Society described how good agricultural soil quality and structure could help with UK flood prevention.[2] It said good soil structure could lead to increased infiltration of water into the soil, as well as increased water storage via uptake into the root systems.[3].
The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has previously called on the government to better recognise farmers’ contribution to flood prevention.[4] The NFU said flood storage was often provided at a great cost to the landowner to protect surrounding urban areas. An NFU survey from December 2023 found that 66% of respondents thought the government should support farmers to improve their role as flood defences.[5] The union said farmers regularly highlighted a lack of maintenance of watercourses and flood defences.[6] It called on the Environment Agency to do more to prioritise essential maintenance to ensure it did not fall to farmers. The union said farmers were willing to support flood prevention but needed more government support.[7]
2. Who is responsible for flood risk management in the UK?
Flood risk management is a devolved matter. In England, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has overall responsibility for policy on flood risk management.[8] It provides funding for flood risk management authorities through grants to the Environment Agency and local authorities. The Environment Agency published the ‘National flood and coastal erosion risk management strategy for England’ (FCERM) in 2020. This set out the long-term vision for UK flood resilience. In June 2022, the Environment Agency published the ‘Flood and coastal erosion risk management strategy roadmap to 2026’. This included an objective for risk management authorities to work with farmers by 2030 to help them adapt their businesses and practices to be resilient to flooding and coastal change.[9].
Flood risk management in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the devolved administrations. More information on the management of flood risk across the UK can be found in the House of Commons Library briefing, ‘Flood risk management and funding’ (12 February 2024).
3. How are farmers incentivised to support flood prevention in England?
There are several government funding schemes that encourage farmers to support flood prevention. This includes schemes such as the sustainable farming incentive (SFI) that pays farmers to carry out farming activities in a more environmentally sustainable way.[10] The Conservative government expanded the SFI scheme in May 2024 to include payments to farmers for actions taken by them to support flood preparedness.[11]
The SFI is one of three main strands of the environmental land management (ELM) scheme introduced by the Conservative government.[12] The ELM is being introduced gradually to replace the system of direct payments. These were established under the EU common agricultural policy whilst the UK was an EU member. The ELM scheme began in 2021 and is expected to continue until 2027.
Countryside stewardship (CS) is another government scheme that provides financial incentives for farmers to improve the environment.[13] Farmers can receive payments for improving natural flood management, amongst other things.
On 14 May 2024, the Conservative government announced temporary support for farmers who had been unable to meet their SFI or CS actions due to wet weather.[14] This included temporary adjustments to allow farmers more time to establish or defer some of their SFI or CS activities to later in the year.
4. What support is available for farmers impacted by severe flooding?
The government provides financial support to farmers impacted by serious flooding. For example, the Conservative government opened the ‘Farming recovery’ fund in April 2024.[15] The fund provides support to farmers who have experienced uninsurable damage to their land due to flooding or extreme rainfall. The fund offers grants of between £500 and £25,000 to help eligible farmers return their land to the condition it was in prior to the flooding.[16]
The farming recovery fund forms part of a broader government scheme called the flood recovery framework.[17] This framework provides funding for eligible households and businesses impacted by flooding, including farmers. It includes a grant of up to £2,500 as part of the framework’s business recovery grant. Local authorities are responsible for distributing grants to those eligible. The government activates the framework in exceptional circumstances, for example in early 2024 following Storm Henk.[18]
In addition to financial support, the catchment sensitive farming (CSF) programme offers free advice to farmers and land managers in England.[19] Established in 2006 and led by Natural England in partnership with Defra, it provides guidance on various issues including flood prevention and natural flood management.
5. What announcements on flood risk management has the new Labour government made?
The Labour government launched the Flood Resilience Taskforce in September 2024.[20] It said the purpose of the taskforce would be to coordinate flooding preparation and provide long-term, strategic thinking to better protect communities. The taskforce contains various government and external stakeholders, including representatives from the farming sector. Emma Hardy, the minister for water and flooding, said the taskforce would provide oversight of national and local flood resilience and preparedness for the winter flood season.[21]
The government has also announced the launch of the Floods and Droughts Research Infrastructure.[22] The government said this was the first UK-wide network dedicated to understanding the impact of extreme weather conditions in the UK. It aims to identify where flood and drought incidents are likely to occur and plan to limit their impact. The network is led by the Natural Environment Research Council and the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.
Additionally, the Rural Flood Resilience Partnership launched on 23 September 2024.[23] Founded by six organisations including the Environment Agency, NFU and Natural England, its purpose is to help farmers and rural communities build resilience to future flooding. The partnership published its ‘Work plan 2024–2026’ which sets out various actions to help engage rural communities in flood resilience. The plan says the partnership would like to see a wider involvement of farmers and rural communities in planning for, responding to and recovering from flood incidents.[24]
6. Read more
- Local Government Association, ‘Managing flood risk: Roles and responsibilities’, accessed 3 October 2024
- Mike Kendon et al, ‘State of the UK climate 2023’, International Journal of Climatology, 24 July 2024, vol 44, issue 1, pp 1–117
- Philip Case, ‘Flood-hit farmers call for National Rivers Authority to be reinstated’, Farmers Weekly, 3 October 2024
Cover image by Yves Bernardi from Pixabay
References
- Environment Agency, ‘Using the power of nature to increase flood resilience’, 1 November 2021. Return to text
- The Royal Society, ‘Soil structure and its benefits: An evidence synthesis’, April 2020. Return to text
- As above, p 39 Return to text
- National Farmers’ Union, ‘Help us highlight the impact of flooding’, 8 February 2024. Return to text
- National Farmers’ Union, ‘Farming for Britain’s future: The NFU 2024 general election manifesto’, December 2023, p 2. Return to text
- National Farmers’ Union, ‘Flooding: Our ask’, December 2023, p 1. Return to text
- As above, p 2. Return to text
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs et al, ‘Flood risk management: Information for flood risk management authorities, asset owners and local authorities’, updated 3 June 2014. Return to text
- Environment Agency, ‘Flood and coastal erosion risk management strategy roadmap to 2026’, 7 June 2022, p 16. Return to text
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Rural Payments Agency, ‘SFI scheme information: Expanded offer for 2024’, 28 August 2024. Return to text
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, ‘Expanded and improved sustainable farming incentive offer for farmers published’, 21 May 2024. Return to text
- House of Lords Library, ‘Environmental land management: Recent changes to the sustainable farming incentive and countryside stewardship schemes’, 18 January 2024. Return to text
- Rural Payments Agency et al, ‘Countryside stewardship: Get funding to protect and improve the land you manage’, updated 5 August 2024. Return to text
- Rural Payments Agency, ‘Wet weather: Temporary support for farmers in 2024’, updated 19 June 2024. Return to text
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Rural Payments Agency, ‘Government opens fund to support farmers affected by flooding’, updated 11 April 2024. Return to text
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, ‘Farming recovery fund expanded’, 24 May 2024. Return to text
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government et al, ‘Flood recovery framework: Guidance for local authorities in England’, 28 October 2021. Return to text
- James Gregory and Michael Sheils McNamee, ‘Hundreds of flood warnings and travel disruption after Storm Henk’, BBC News, 3 January 2024. Return to text
- Natural England et al, ‘Catchment sensitive farming: Advice for farmers and land managers’, updated 21 March 2023. Return to text
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs et al, ‘New taskforce launched to turbocharge flood preparedness and delivery of flood defences’, 12 September 2024. Return to text
- House of Commons, ‘Written question: Flood control: Rural areas (4081)’, 16 September 2024. Return to text
- Department for Science, Innovation and Technology et al, ‘UK to receive earlier flood and drought warnings using high-tech sensors and real time monitoring’, 31 August 2024. Return to text
- Environment Agency and Natural England, ‘Rural Flood Resilience Partnership launched to help farmers and rural communities adapt to a changing climate’, 23 September 2024. Return to text
- Rural Flood Resilience Partnership, ‘Work plan 2024–2026’, 23 September 2024, p 5. Return to text